Justice for All

This will easily be the most controversial thing I've ever posted on this blog, so be warned, this is an opinion that may not sit well with others.

The sum of my outrage over this is simple this: I don't want to become so tolerant in life, that I begin to tolerate intolerance.

On that note, I am disturbed by this:

Sharia Rules in England

One set of laws for all of us please, this idea that a segment of society gets access to an exclusive legal system, just so sexist Sharia laws can be enforced in divorce and property disputes, is wrong. This is not democracy and this is not multi-culturalism.

If we oppose the Ten Commandments in our courts (as we rightly should), and if we oppose Christian prayer in our public schols (as we rightly should), then we must protest this disastrous decision.

Separation of church and state is a fundamental tenant for democracy to thrive, and pandering to any religious extreme (of any persuasion) erodes our freedom.

If you scoff at the dangers of Sharia rule, or suggest my concern over this is somehow "racially driven", I invite you to read Ayaan Hirsi Ali's book: Infidel.

She, as a Muslim, and without apology claims the following:

Islam is in a period of transition, the religion as it is currently practiced is often incompatible with modernity and democracy. It must radically transform itself in order to become so.

"We in the West," she writes, "would be wrong to prolong the pain of that transition unnecessarily, by elevating cultures full of bigotry and hatred toward women to the stature of respectable alternative ways of life."

We are a secular society. We honor freedom of religion, but our schools, our laws and most especially our government, are separated from religion. We do this, so that all religions may flourish equally, and that no religious dogma is given precedence, or more power than another.

We cannot let the tolerance of democracy, allow an intolerant religion to demand and receive its own legal system, or become greater than the law of the land, simply because of their faith.

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McCain Finally Finds a Message

Andrew Romano of Newsweek writes an interesting analysis of the McCain campaign, suggesting that they have finally found a message that might work against “Obama Mania”.

You can find the article here.

I agree with the editorial only in part.

While I agree capitalizing on Joe Biden’s incredibly stupid remark in Seattle is political platinum; I am not so sure the “Joe the Plumber” message is working.

I suspect most voters are a little fatigued with "Joe the Plumber" already. Not to mention, that most of us in the middle class, don’t see a pending tax cut to our returns as “spreading the wealth”, we see it as necessary relief to shelter ourselves from the impending recession.

To be blunt: I want that tax cut, and I don’t consider myself a “socialist” just because I’d like a little relief, from this current economic climate.

However, I think Romano is right that Biden's inane comment earlier this week, provides a means whereby McCain can score points on foreign policy.

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Si Se Puede!

Clinton supporters claimed the Latino vote was one of Obama’s greatest weaknesses (among others), but as usual, the Clintons were wrong:

“Latinos make up 32.4% of registered voters in New Mexico, 11.4% in Nevada and 9.9% in Colorado. The institute examined data from eight polling firms and found that Obama's lead over McCain in Nevada would be 42.4% to 40.7% without Latino voters -- a difference that's within the margin of error. Include Latino voters, however, and Obama's lead grows to 50%, versus 43% for McCain.”
– Marjorie Miller, LA Times

The original/full article can be found here.

My comment: If things continue to tighten in Pennsylvannia and McCain continues to lead (and therefore win) Ohio and Florida, then these Latino voters in Nevada, New Mexico and Colorado could well decide who is president of the United States.

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Lions, Tigers and ACORN, Oh My!

Great quote from Lisa Lerer on this idea that ACORN is part of a vast conspiracy to destroy democracy:

“But faulty registrations rarely turn into illegal votes. While ACORN has admitted to errors in its registration process, documented cases of illegally cast ballots remain rare. A five-year investigation by the Bush administration resulted in the convictions of only 26 voters found guilty of voting more than once, registration fraud, or ineligible voting.” – Lisa Lerer

The full article can be found here

Dumb "Buds" Redeem Themselves

The dumbest beer commercial ever, redeems itself with this clever revisit many years later by the original actors in the ad: